It was one of humankind's most epic quests - a technical problem so complex that it challenged the best minds of its time, a problem so important that the nation that solved it would rule the economy of the world. The problem was navigation by sea—how to know where you were when you sailed beyond the sight of land - establishing your longitude. While the gentry of the 18th Century looked to the stars for the answer, an English clockmaker, John Harrison, toiled for decades to solve the problem. His elegant solution made him an unlikely hero and remains the basis for the most modern forms of navigation in the world today. This film will be both a celebration of Harrison's invention and an adventure story. An expedition on a period sailing vessel as it sails the open sea will demonstrate the life and death importance of finding your longitude at sea.
Garden designer Lynden B. Miller explores the life and career of Beatrix Jones Farrand (1872-1959), America's first female landscape architect.
The remarkable life story of the pre-war Polish artist Stanislav Szukalski, documented by the American friends he made late in life.
Biography of Bette Davis hosted by Jodie Foster.
It all begins with a childhood memory: that day when the father of the future filmmaker Sebastiano d'Ayala Valva forces him to listen to certain music that initially terrifies him; a distant echo from the past that leads him to follow the trail of his mysterious ancestor, the Italian composer Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988), who claimed that his music was directly inspired by the gods.
In this true-life twist on a holiday fable, Jeremy Morris brings a whole new meaning to Christmas spirit when his extravagant seasonal display sparks a dispute with his neighbors that lands them all in court.
Religious-based images and traditions permeate the lives of all the people who inhabit Seville. Historically, the city's mariquitas ("sissies") have also assimilated them in their childhood and, through them, have been creating their own encounter spaces and their own codes. Nowadays, new dissident identities continue to respond to them: they participate or distance themselves, they continue what exists or transform it. This film looks at these traditions from a perspective always relegated to the margins.
To become a Salvation Army officer, cadets must shed the skin of their old lives, promise to reject treasures on earth in favour of true spiritual gifts and commit to 'care for the poor, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, love the unlovable and befriend those who have no friends'. This documentary takes us inside the training college for this most distinctive of British institutions, introducing the individuals and families who give up their jobs and leave their homes to work full-time for 'The Army' for just £7,500 a year.
Armed with a camcorder, farmer-filmmaker-activist Severine von Tscharner Fleming spent two years crisscrossing America, meeting and mobilizing a network of revolutionary young farmers resettling the land. 'The Greenhorns' is an ode to their grit and entrepreneurial spirit, an exploration of sustainable agriculture, and an enticement to reclaim our national soil. The ninety minute feature is the culmination of well over 200 hours of original footage from all regions of the United States, as well as original animation by young urban farmer and artist Brooke Budner, and rare agricultural archival footage from the Prelinger Archives. Ultimately, The Greenhorns shows us how farmers can move out of the margins recent history has consigned them to, and back to the heart of the American food landscape.
Balzac is a 1951 short documentary film by French director Jean Vidal. It is a biopic on the work, life, and loves of the French playwright and novelist Honoré de Balzac, his evolution as a writer and how his individual works fit into the design of La Comedie Humaine. The film was nominated for an Academy Award in 1952 and won first prize for best director at the Mannheim-Heidelberg International Film Festival the same year.
Annual pilgrimage of pilgrims to the ruins of Nossa Senhora da Guia, on the north coast of Paraíba. After visiting the temple, the faithful indulge in the coco de roda dance.
Ron Taylor: Dr. Baseball tells the story of the Major League pitcher who won two world championships and after a USO tour through Vietnam, devoted himself to medicine.